Chapter 140: Humans are Scarier Than Zombies
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 140: Humans are Scarier Than Zombies
[Faction Quest 6]
– You have fallen into a trap. Escape from the group at Apgujeong Station targeting Paradise and retaliate.
– Reward: 1 Point. Normal Mode Level (★) Selection Ticket x5. 2,000 Coins.
"From now on, we're playing the quiet game. Anyone who speaks is disqualified. Disqualification means execution."
I'm furious at these bastards for treating me like a pushover, but strangely, a smile plays on my lips.
Life in this world is just too easy.
It's one thing to have received Cheat Mode, but there are so many people who practically hand me quests on a silver platter just for breathing.
Even if I dig my heels in and refuse to grow, they spoon-feed me.
Of course, it's only 1 point.
It's a bit underwhelming, though.
At this point, 1 point barely registers, but as they say, every little bit helps.
I'm someone who knows how to cherish even a single point.
Besides, if I get this 1 point, I can reach Predation Level 10.
And on top of that, I get such an entertaining event.
It wasn't that I hadn't anticipated this at all.
Rather than thinking, Surely they wouldn't do this? it might be more accurate to say I just hadn't given it much thought.
After all, anyone who messes with me is going to die anyway. Unless they have a death wish, why would they pick a fight?
...But they actually did.
I've gained so much lately that I was trying to be nice and generous, but they just won't cooperate.
Clatter.
Bang!
There's nothing I can do about the ones already hiding.
But in this state, none of those in my field of vision can escape my gaze.
Because I was kindly running "Time Acceleration" and "Time Deceleration" at full throttle, immediately renewing them the moment their durations ended.
The instant a sound is made, I fire toward its source.
Right now, my Agility stat alone is over level 24.
For everyone out here right now, this moment must be absolute hell.
Since I'm shooting without letting even the slightest noise slide.
"Guns are such great weapons, aren't they?"
If you asked if I'm a gun nut, I'd say no.
Although I shot plenty of guns while playing for 100,000 hours, my choice of weapons was mostly fixed.
Just things with decent performance, decent ease of use, and decent popularity.
Sure, I've tried this and that, but I don't know the names of every single firearm or ammunition type by heart.
But I do love using guns as weapons.
In a zombie apocalypse, a gun is a symbol of authority and power.
Even finding one is incredibly difficult. And even once you have it, the number of shots you can fire is limited by your ammunition. Thus, it's a highly restricted weapon that you're forced to save only for extreme emergencies.
But using it is also a problem.
In a dangerous situation where you must minimize noise in a zombie-infested area and only take out the zombies you've aggroed, firing a gun just because you're in danger?
At that moment, a gun can create an even worse situation by drawing every single zombie in the vicinity.
That's why you need a suppressor.
Unless you equip a high-performance suppressor, a gun is a weapon that powerless people can't even use, even if they manage to get one.
It's the same when facing other survivors.
A gun is not an all-powerful weapon.
Just because one or two people hold guns doesn't mean they can suppress or control an entire faction.
It's a double-edged sword; you must possess power for a gun to serve as a tool of control.
That's why I like it.
Because I have the power.
For the dumbasses who fail to recognize this power, there is no harsher whip than a gun.
When raising a dog, the leash is used as a means of communication.
These days, there are many owners who treat their dogs like royalty and try to soothe them with human words.
But in reality, dogs communicate best when controlled by a leash.
It's just like that.
No matter how much you try to talk to dumbasses with words or fists, they won't understand a damn thing. So, you have to use a gun.
Bang!
"Z-Zombies are com—!"
Bang!
Naturally, firing a gun in a space tightly packed with buildings like this...
...especially without even equipping a suppressor.
Even if it isn't a Blood Hour right now, the zombies' senses are already enhanced, and their stats are boosted.
To such zombies, the sound of gunfire is a dinner bell.
If they don't block them quickly, the zombies will breach, no matter how well-built the barricades are.
This place is close to the entrance.
What's more, they had left the entrance barricade slightly open—perhaps for my sake—so it wouldn't be hard for the zombies to get in.
A hole was blown through the head of the guy who realized the problem and tried to shout.
"So what?"
Whether zombies break in or not is none of my business.
If they were to ask if I shouldn't clean them up since they paid me 5,000 Coins, I could simply reply that, unfortunately, that money had already been spent as settlement for threatening my life.
"You only have two choices right now. Stay here and get bitten to death by zombies, or quickly pool together a settlement for trying to kill me and bring it here."
"How mu—"
Bang!
"Why are you guys such slow learners? We're playing a game where you die if you speak, remember? Huh? How much? You should gather it with some sincerity. Do I really have to name the price of my own life?"
Commotion echoes from the entrance.
The swarming zombies and the other people who weren't here must be blocking them by taking another route.
You could say the zombies were preventing them from rushing me all at once.
Though that was exactly why I called them.
"Everyone, gather over here!!!!!! The zombies are coming in!!!"
Despite the shouts, the twenty or so people pinned down here couldn't budge.
Cold sweat dripped, and their legs trembled from holding the same posture, but anyone who had tried to shift slightly when they thought I wasn't looking had already been killed.
They must feel it's unfair.
You said you'd kill us if we made a sound, so why are you killing us for moving?
But they couldn't even ask that without making a sound, and from my perspective, I just shoot because I hear something.
What's the point of this?
There isn't much of one.
I'm just enjoying an event that cropped up while clearing a quest.
Ultimately, to retaliate against this faction, they all have to die.
This way, I save some effort using the zombies while having some fun.
Screams begin to echo.
They only stood a chance if they fought from an advantageous position with barricades in place.
With their path breached and most of their forces pinned down, there was no way they could fend off the zombies swarming toward the sound of gunfire.
To make matters worse, it was now the Blood Hour.
Arriving just in time for the Blood Hour to create a more dramatic atmosphere had really heightened the tension.
I didn't exactly plan it this way, though.
In the end, the people here had to make a choice.
One person cautiously raised a hand, approached, and handed over some Coins.
8,000 Coins.
"Oh. That's quite a lot."
Is he the one managing this faction's Coins?
Naturally, factions usually pool and manage their Coins.
Especially since in areas belonging to Paradise, Coins can be exchanged directly for food. But to think they still had 8,000 to spare even after spending 5,000 on the cleanup.
They weren't even a small faction, but I was still quite impressed.
"Good."
I lowered my gun.
Even so, the people, having learned fear, did not move.
As if waiting for their master's command.
"Go on. You'd better block them quickly. Since I've received the settlement, I'll let you off this once."
Instantly, the people scrambled toward the entrance, casting wary glances back.
The entrance was already breached.
Screams still rang out, and if they didn't help immediately, their base would fall.
"I wish there were people coming to make donations like this every day."
I was planning to just clean up the zombies for 5,000 Coins and leave, but I ended up getting an extra 8,000 Coins and even picked up a quest.
I feel almost too guilty.
I decided to leave them a little gift.
With everyone rushing toward the entrance, no one was left behind with me.
Even if they were non-combatants, no lunatic would want to stay here after witnessing what I'd done.
I stepped into an empty building.
It seemed to be used as a living space, furnished with beds and various other items.
"This'll burn nicely."
I pulled Molotov Cocktails out of my backpack.
I had originally brought these to start a nice, satisfying fire for fun during a Zombie Rush with hundreds of zombies, but I never expected to use them here.
I tossed them one by one onto highly flammable spots.
I walked out, went to the opposite side, and threw another.
After throwing about four or five, I leisurely cleared the barricades and stepped outside.
The fire spread rapidly, roaring to life.
The buildings were packed with all sorts of flammable materials, and the barricades, made mostly of furniture to block the path, caught fire easily.
Zombies in front.
Fire behind.
They needed to put out the fire first, but doing so meant turning their backs on the zombies—an inescapable dilemma that trapped the members of this faction.
I watched the fire for a long while. As the screams gradually died down, I casually tossed an empty chicken mayo rice bowl lunchbox onto the ground and finished off a cup of cola.
"Ah. Watching a fire really is the best way to zone out."
A fire-gazing session needs to be on a grand scale to properly zone out and enjoy a meal.
It's warm, too.
Although it's starting to show signs of warming up, the April weather still fluctuates wildly between hot and cold.
The intensely blazing fire soon began to die down.
That's what Molotov Cocktails are made for, after all.
Only then did I begin the zombie cleanup I had been commissioned for.
A cleanup where the client was no longer around.